Craigslist transformation

One night my husband and I decided to try out this fantastic Asian restaurant called banana leaf. We even decided to take all the kids with us. Luckily that day I had been looking at craigslist and found this behind the sofa table for $20. We decided we would pick it up and we DID! I knew I needed to paint it but here it was for a few weeks sitting around deciding where it wanted to end up.

I loved the food and especially the table! After a few weeks of scatterbrainedness I decided to sand it down and see the condition of the wood

It looked good! Oh and a great trick is to sand it then wet it down evenly because it shows you how it will look with stain. Then I sanded it with fine sandpaper and wiped it down and pulled out the stain and freshly laundered rags. I bought dark walnut. This stain is VERY forgiving. I bet it even looks great to not perfect wood. I bought the tiny little can that costs around $4.50. I used it for two small table stains and I still have half a can left. I only did two coats of stain on this table. Then I had this:


I have three children so I knew polyurethane was inevitable. I waited 2 days and applied a coat of the stuff. Maybe I should have done 2 coats but I was impatient. I wanted this table to match my stairs so I decided to paint the legs a crisp white (I just used a gloss white left over from painting all the floor boards in the house) It is surprisingly sturdy.

I did two coats and used a mini roller because I didn't want strokes but I should have just used a nice brush. I waited a day for the legs to dry and then put it in my house

Its a very simple piece but I absolutely love it! So does my husband. This one is definitely a keeper for more than one house!
I love craigslist!!

Project cost:
$20 table
$4.50 stain
Polyurethane
white paint on hand
sand paper 1 pack ($5.50)
total: $30

Not bad for a fantastic table. My son has already decided this is his new homework area. He loves the little red ottoman turned chair.




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Dresser Mirrors turned wall mirrors

Thats right I have put two of those HUGE and HEAVY mirrors on the wall. Lets just hope they stay there. These mirrors came from my husband at the beginning of the year. I had been envisioning two mirrors in the master bedroom but hadn't even told my husband. Then one day he just came home from work and said "Oh hey I found these curbside mirrors" I was sooo happy. Then I realized they were super heavy and got worried. But never fear the Lowe's guy helped. I asked him what he would hang them with and he led me to these:

mine only have two places for screws so a little less heavy duty than these

He said they should be fine and I am crossing my fingers that they will be. The only problem is you have to be very exact on the hanging things or you are stuck with lopsided mirrors. Then he showed me some drywall screws with hooks specifically made for shelves to hang that could hold up to 100 lbs. So I bought them and forgot to take a picture Lets hope he is right about their weight holding abilities. Here is what it looks like from the side hanging

After I found out I could actually hang these on the wall I wiped them down prepped them and primed them with Zinsser oil based primer with a small foam roller.

Then I spray painted them white! Just Semi gloss because I am hoping my kids won't touch them and dirty them (I generally go with high gloss in this house of dirty fingers)

Then I couldn't figure out which way was up.

Now that I think about it that is hilarious. When they were faux wood I thought they were a certain way and then painted they seemed to look better the other way. Then I felt they needed a little more depth so I went to Michaels and stared at a wall of paper for a very long time I chose 15 different kinds of paper (talk about indecisive) then i headed over to Joannes to stare at a few walls of material making sure I chose the right option (I am not a big fan of Joannes with my kids in tow because it takes SOOO long to chose) Here are the final choices

Love this one but it doesn't go with the room

If these flowers were blue instead of pink I would have gone with this

Very dramatic but doesn't go with the easy flow of the room

Looks good with the mirror but not with the room

I let my husband decide which paper he liked best because he does share the room with me. Then I just shoved the paper in there and creased it. I cut on the crease and taped it in. I chose a pattern that needs lining up (I had to do this twice because it was wonky) So I lined it up cut again and then glued the edges down (just paper glue stick) Now I like it. Although I still do not know if I love the paper I chose (see what I mean about indecisive) But I do love the mirrors.

we went with small brown and white hounds tooth, the most conservative of them all.

I love the way they make the room feel. Much more light bouncing around. (the mirrors have now been up for a week and I think I don't like the paper, luckily its a quick fix, I just need to find the right paper.

Cost breakdown:

Mirrors Free (these are popping up in thrift stores for cheap because what are you supposed to do with such a heavy mirror?)
Zinsser primer $8.xx
Roller $3.94 for a little kit
Rustoleum 3x cover white Spray paint $3.54 per can (I used 2 cans)
Hanging kit $2.50
drywall screws and hooks $3.xx
Paper .13cents (I used 1 sheet per mirror)

so total around $25 for two large wall mirrors. YAY! Although it cost me less because I had the roller kit and the primer already.

If you have these mirrors hiding in your garage you can make them a great accessory in your home.


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My Garage at this very moment

Its project progress day! I have been oil base painting. These are the things I got painted today and I am HAPPY about the progress. We had company over for a few days and I love how that it all the motivation you need to get the pictures hung and projects finished! Now I am back at it and happy about the progress.
can't wait to share what I have done.

Miriam

who says you can't stain wood laminte?

Not me! I found this LANE side table at Savers for $8.99. I wanted it for a tv stand upstairs in the loft. I liked the lines and its from 1964 (you can tell with Lane because the date of manufacture is the serial number backwards so April 4th 1964.
When I bought it I thought it was solid wood. Well it wasn't. I started to sand it down and realized it was LAMINATE! good laminate but laminate none the less. I REALLY wanted to stain this and not paint it so I figured I would sand it down to where I liked it (yet not all the way through the laminate) and then see where that took me.

I sanded with 150 grit first and then 180 so get it nice and smooth. I used two coats of stain (dark walnut, in my experience the DARKER the stain the choose the more forgiving it is for mistakes) This table was SOOOO easy to stain. Wood type makes a lot of difference. I was staining pine at the same time (I am not a fan of stained pine because its such a soft would and easily dents) and the pine just sucked all the stain in and there was no room for mistakes. This table took its time to dry and it was nice to make sure it was all staining at the same rate. I did the legs first and then I did the top. I like to use a freshly laundered rag when staining. Its just easier for me to focus on the staining that way. Then I put one coat of polyurethane (I just used a cheap foam brush) and here is my final product:

I used a dark walnut stain and I really like it. It seems more modern now. Best of all my husband really loves it. Here is the top. The top is a dead giveaway that it is laminate wood. I don't know how I missed that. Anyway Nicely made laminate IS STAINABLE!!

I was willing to try this because the price was low. If I would have ruined it it would have been a small cost for experimenting. I used my sander for all parts of this. Its just a mouse ryobi (If you have one of these its really not good for table tops! I have done many table tops and am now used to it but it will leave little marks all over the top if you don't sand in the exact right way.)

If you have never stained before I would say go find some inexpensive piece of used furniture and start with that. If you found your dream dining room table and want to stain it, start with something small first because you don't want to ruin the dream table.



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I've gone a little nuts

I usually have a 3 projects at a time only rule. I seem to have thrown this out the window! The problem now is that I have so many projects floating around that I am having a hard time finishing one and moving onto the other. I seem to just be running around in circles throwing paint and sandpaper and everything else all over the place. So I am trying to change my ways and finish some projects. Luckily my husband sees just how unfocused I am and has started helping me hang the light fixtures. Anyway I have been thrift shopping the whole time and here is an idea of some of the projects I have going on right now.

If you can't tell this is a huge ottoman. Its the Target variety. I went to a yard sale on the way home and this ottoman was on this guys grass. I stopped and it had one little inch rip in it. It didn't look too bad so I asked how much he wanted. $20 so I asked if he would take $15 (I don't usually haggle but I knew I would have to recover this) he said yes and I threw it in the truck). The inch rip turned into this after 4 days!! (once again the little munchkins attacked)
So I am in the process of finding a material to cover it with.

Then I found this:
Its a solid cedar chest and even has an insurance policy pasted on the inside for moth control! It was only $10 without haggling! I have been looking for toy chests so it was perfect. The only problem is it looks like someone went modgepodge crazy with gardening pictures. I plan on stripping this sanding it and then seeing the shape of the wood.

Then I found this:
Its a LANE table for $8.99 Savers. I wanted it for our TV in the loft for the kids. It is currently being sanded and will be stained.

Then I found these:
I am switching out all the lighting in the house and I want it in brushed nickel silver or chrome. The one on the left is a Kitchler for $7.99 and the right is I don't know what but it was $15.

I am also sanding and staining a sofa table, upholstering a low coffee table I found to make it a bench, rearrangeing my seascape wall to fit with the hutch and making some faux canvas art! I'll let you know how it all goes :) Focus Focus Focus!


Today I am linking up with Linda at: